Google My Business Product Expert, Steady Demand’s Ben Fisher, explains what Google My Business’ factual attributes are, how to set them, and gives an overview of the latest attributes added to GMB since Covid-19 measures were put in place.
What are GMB factual attributes?
When Covid-19 struck, everyone was surprised by the shutdown. Most people had no clue what to do, where to shop, what was safe, and what was not. To make matters worse, it seemed like every day brought new challenges.
During this time, the Google My Business (GMB) Product Experts met with GMB every week to brainstorm what could help merchants the most. We would make a suggestion and then, by the next week, changes would have been implemented.
It was, and it is still, amazing to see how fast Google reacted to the pandemic. Many other companies reacted, too, but Google had a duty to respond particularly quickly due to its influence on search.
One key area of improvements was in GMB attributes, which are snippets of information that quickly provide details on a business, allowing consumers to make faster decisions.
According to Google My Business, there are two types of attributes that a merchant can have, and they will vary based upon your GMB category. Check out this article for a list of all GMB attributes available.
A Few Notes
- Some attributes are only available in certain countries, such as ‘Black-Owned‘, which is only available in the US.
- If a business is marked as ‘Temporarily Closed’ in GMB, then attributes will not be displayed.
- Supported attributes have a “✓” and unsupported attributes display an “X”.
Above is an example showing supported and unsupported attributes. In the above example, the merchant has selected that they do or do not offer ‘Dine-in’, so it is marked with an ‘X’.
Factual Attributes
The first type of GMB attribute is a factual attribute. These are set by the merchant and considered to be objective facts (i.e. not subjective) as they can be easily verified and agreed as true.
Subjective Attributes
The second is subjective attributes; these are sourced by locals or those who have an opinion on your business. When browsing Google Maps, for example, you may see “Know this place? Share the latest info” in the business profile. This is so a user can share opinions that may or may not show up in GMB.
Why do GMB attributes matter?
According to Google, “Attributes in a Google My Business profile let customers know what a place has to offer so they can make informed decisions about where to visit.”
But, attributes also have very real-life consequences, too…
A Short Story
This is a use case where attributes come in handy. Informing a consumer about merchants’ options helps people to make more informed decisions about what merchant they will do business with.
One day Bob had a moment to break up his day and venture out of the house to get some air and food from his favorite restaurant. He knew that there was limited capacity, so he looked up the business profile for this restaurant on Google and was surprised to see on their GMB profile that, while they did have ‘online ordering’ as an attribute, they didn’t have ‘curbside pickup’
However, the restaurant below did have this attribute. As Bob was very conscious about Covid-19, he decided to go to the other restaurant, considering it the safer alternative. If Bob had preferred, he could have chosen some merchants that offered delivery with no contact, using these attributes.
How do you set factual attributes in Google My Business?
While subjective attributes are entirely down to your Google Maps-using customers, merchants have control over the factual attributes that display with their business information on Google My Business.
It’s easy to set your factual attributes. If you are on a desktop computer:
- Click on the business profile you wish to make changes to.
- Then click the ‘Info’ tab on the left-hand side.
- Scroll down until you get to the option under ‘Services.’
- There you will see the option for ‘Attributes’.
- Once you have selected the attributes you want to keep or remove, click ‘Apply’.
On Android: (sorry, Apple smartphone users cannot edit attributes!)
- Open the GMB App.
- In the bottom right, tap ‘Profile’, and scroll down to ‘View All’.
- Find ‘Highlights’ (Add Attributes) and tap the ‘Edit’ pencil.
- You are presented with the attributes available to you.
- Once you are done selecting the attributes you want to keep or remove, click ‘Apply’.
Notable changes to GMB attributes and new Covid-19 GMB attributes
New Attributes for Healthcare
Healthcare did not get a ton of new attributes after Covid-19, but they got a massive number of new features like Virtual Care Covid-19 support links, Covid-19 Google Posts, Covid-19 Testing Sites, Temporary Closures, and Covid-19 Schema.
(It’s worth noting that some other business categories got some of these features as well).
Here are the new attributes healthcare businesses did get:
- Practitioner Gender: Female, Male, Non-binary
- Online Care
New Attributes for Food Businesses (Restaurants)
- Dine-in
- Takeout
- Delivery
- No-contact delivery
- Curbside pickup
New Attributes for Retail
- Pickup
- Delivery
- Curbside pickup
- In-Store shopping
- In-Store pickup
New Attributes for Online Services
Due to Covid-19, many merchants have had to adjust how they do business, and GMB has reacted in such a way to allow businesses to not only look at the near-term impact but to adjust for the long term as well. So, if a merchant offered in-home, educational, or professional services they will now have the option to designate the kinds of online services that are available.
NOTE: You still need to have a physical location — be that a storefront or service area business — to be eligible for these attributes. If you offer at least one of these types of online services, fully remotely and in real-time, then you can choose this attribute.
- Online classes
- Onsite services
- Online estimates
- Online appointments
A merchant that does contactless services where you visit a client’s location (such as garage door repair or HVAC) will not qualify for these attributes, even if booked online. (Although, honestly, I do not see how GMB will police this.)
New Attributes for Hotels
Hotels get a ‘Covid-19 Responder Policy’ – They can use this attribute to show that they are providing special accommodations or discounts for Covid-19 responders.
Summary
Attributes are a great way to communicate to consumers what options are available to them within your Google My Business profile and within their searches. This helps them make an informed decision when browsing merchants.
During this pandemic, it is more important than ever to help the consumer decide to do business with you, not only for them but for yourself. Every customer that does not decide to do business with you is revenue lost.
So if you have not already audited your clients’ GMB attributes today, then get to it!
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